These Glendale girls were friends and future stepsisters. A deadly crash changed it all
Kaliyah Reyes moved into the Glendale house her dad shared with his fiancée and her future stepsister, Delilah Marquez, in late July.
The girls' contrasting interests complemented each other — Kaliyah, 12, surrounded herself with Hello Kitty plush dolls and Delilah, 14, collected shoes. Friends since their parents started dating a decade ago, they roomed together and spent evenings after school listening to music.
"(Kaliyah) just felt so complete being with us," said 31-year-old Mariah Hernandez, mother to Delilah.
Kaliyah had played her first softball game at Canyon Elementary the day before she joined Delilah on Sept. 13 for a Friday night football game at Cactus High. The girls left that game early, forgoing a walk back home with Delilah's 16-year-old brother. After dining at a Dairy Queen, they started a three-minute walk back home.
The girls were reportedly crossing North 59th Avenue near West Greenway Road and away from the crosswalk when a vehicle struck them. Kaliyah was taken off life support four days after she was hit. Delilah remains hospitalized. And their family braces for the struggles ahead.
"Right now, we're taking it day by day," Hernandez said.
Her daughter suffered a brain injury and did not wake up for five days. She has been at Phoenix Children's Hospital since she was transferred from Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, where Kaliyah died. Delilah was moved from the ICU on Sept. 20.
Her family is slowly telling her what happened to her. Her mom and a counselor will break the news about Kaliyah a few days before she is expected to leave the hospital on Oct. 4.
Despite efforts to save Kaliyah, Hernandez said doctors told the family that injuries from the crash had stopped her brain from functioning. The family was hopeful she would survive. Kaliyah's mother traveled from California to keep vigil at her daughter's hospital bedside.
"Her heart did give out," Hernandez said. "She kind of left on her own."
The girl's father, George Reyes, 36, has been distraught ever since, Hernandez said.
Kaliyah has a 17-year-old brother from her mother and Reyes' union, and a 7-year-old sister, Penelope, from the relationship between Hernandez and Reyes.
"(Penelope) is really taking it very hard, because that was her best friend," Hernandez said, adding the young girl is also worried about her oldest sister, Delilah. "She says she feels like a knife is in her heart."
Just minutes before the crash happened around 9:30 p.m., Hernandez texted Delilah. She scolded her for not staying at the game with her brother.
Hernandez noticed Delilah's cellphone location was off. She did not hear back, despite calling her more than 20 times.
Driving home, Hernandez saw a cluster of police when she arrived at the 59th Avenue and Greenway stoplight.
"My heart sank right away because I know that it's not like her to (not) answer my calls and text," she said.
Finding no one home when she arrived, Hernandez raced back to the police scene, where officers told her there had been a crash.
Under the streetlights, she saw the proof she feared: Her daughter's small burgundy and gray Nike sneaker in the middle of the road.
Delilah and Kaliyah were hit by a small SUV while walking in the final lane on North 59th Avenue, police told Hernandez.
"No charges have been filed nor are they expected to be filed," read an email from Glendale public safety spokesperson Jose Miguel Santiago.
The driver remained on the scene, cooperated with the investigation and was not impaired, Santiago's email explained. The girls appeared to have been mid-block, away from the crosswalk, when the incident happened, the email said.
"He could have slowed down, seeing kids run in a well-lit area," Hernandez said.
To help cover Kaliyah's funeral costs, as well as expenses related to Delilah's recovery, the family set up a GoFundMe . Hernandez has put her job as an esthetician on hold as she spends days and nights at the hospital watching over her daughter.
"She's such a respectful, kind girl. She's always smiling. She makes friends with anyone and everyone," Hernandez said.
